The New Republic May Issue: The American Terror Industry

April 19, 2018

New
York, NY (April 19, 2018) — The
New Republic today published its May issue, featuring an in-depth cover
story examining how the NRA exploits Second Amendment fears and racial tensions
to sell guns. In “How the NRA Sells Guns
in America Today,” author Elliot
Woods takes a deep dive into the NRA’s tactics, explaining, “The
astonishing boom in the gun market didn’t result from expanding the rolls of
gun owners, but by convincing a small group of ‘super owners’ to deepen their
arsenals.” Woods spent time at the NRA’s booth at the Shooting, Hunting, and
Outdoor Trade show gathering intel for the piece that also touches on how
today’s youth movement against guns has become a real problem for the NRA.

TNR’s May issue features an exclusive photo essay, produced in
collaboration with the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York City. “The Postcolonial
Moment,” features stunning photographs by Sanlé Sory shot in his studio in
Burkina Faso during the 1970s and 1980s.

Additional information about the issue is
included below.

[FEATURES]

In “What Difference Is Trump
for Us?,” author Suzy Hansen
examines how politics and culture in America look from Istanbul today. Hansen
writes, “Almost all Turks have felt critical of the United States. Before I
could understand how they felt about Trump,

I would need to understand how they felt about America.” She spends
time with graduates from Robert College and explains, “Donald Trump’s
inexperience and ignorance might not have shocked the Robert College graduates
because they had been exposed to ignorance, nativism, and narcissism in the Ivy
League.”

Mattathias Schwartz explores how a U.S. citizen captured on
the battlefield with ISIS may finally force America to confront the legacy of
9/11 in “The Case of John Doe, American
Jihadist.” He makes the case that the Authorization for Use of Military
Force (AUMF), introduced shortly after 9/11, has become the legal justification
on which the global war on terrorism depends and writes, “Trump is committed to
a maximalist interpretation of the AUMF. ‘We have not used the real abilities
that we have,’ he said. ‘We’ve been restrained.’”

[U.S.
& THE WORLD]

In “There’s No App for
Justice,”Noam Cohen looks at
the Silicon Valley startups remaking legal practices and explains, “There are
now at least 600 legal tech startups operating in the United States, many of
them using AI to organize bankruptcy lings, search for new patent lings, and more generally help lawyers make
the strongest possible case for their clients by showing connections between
past court decisions, the law, and legal arguments.” He continues, “The
decisions of law and justice are now turning on who has the biggest computer
with the best algorithm.”

Author Adam Winkler touches
on why big businesses are suddenly into liberal politics in “Corporate Political Conscience.” Winkler
argues, “It is no longer enough to be socially responsible. Companies are now
effectively embracing the idea of corporate political responsibility.”

“Undoing Climate Diplomacy,” by Emily
Atkin argues that Trump’s new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, will
continue to lead to the erosion of American engagement in climate diplomacy.
Atkin argues that the Trump administration’s failure to engage in foreign discussions
surrounding global environmental policy has led China to become the de facto
world leader on the issue, and Mike Pompeo will do little to alter that course.

“The Ultimate Cash Crop” explores how a pot crisis post Trump
inauguration has restarted a conversation about public banking in America.
Author David Dayen notes, “America
is the richest country in the world; public banking advocates want to put that
wealth to work on behalf of the people who created it.”

Lastly, Bryce Covert asks
whether America can change the way it takes care of kids in “A New Deal for DayCare.” Covert
examines early education in other countries and notes, “The United States
spends less on child care and early childhood education than all other
developed countries except Turkey, Latvia, and Croatia.”

[BOOKS
& THE ARTS]

In “World Apart,”Patrick Iber examines how neoliberalism
shapes the global economy and limits the power of democracies outlined in a new
book by Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The
End of Empire and The Birth of Neoliberalism.

“A Map of Complications” explains how tensions between two
generations of feminists animate Meg Wolitzer’s new novel, The Female Persuasion. Michelle
Dean writes, “Both idealists and realists, Wolitzer’s characters would like
to see a better world but find precious little room for principled choices amid
the corporate structures that now govern more and more of life.”

Rachel
Syme explores how
SHOWTIME’s Billions reckons with the
inflated egos and muddled ethics of Wall Street. In “Super Antiheroes,” Syme writes, “Billions is what would happen if Superman and Lex Luthor haggled
over insider trading; if Batman and the Joker were really obsessed with
Capitalism.”

In “The Brand
Builder,” Kyle Chayka explores how Bjarke Ingels is designing the future,
from architect to tastemaker. Sophie
Pinkham reviews Dancing Bears: True
Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny by Witold Szabłowski and
The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and
The Ghosts of the Past by Shaun Walker in “No Direction Home,” delving into why post-Soviet countries have
embraced populism and nostalgia.

Poems by Lyrae
Van Clief-Stefanon and Carl Phillips
are featured this month. For Res Publica, Editor-in-Chief Win McCormack explains how a vital term in U.S. political life lost
its significance—and could regain it today in “Are You Progressive?”

The entire May issue of The New Republic is available on newsstands and via digital
subscription now.